Australian man urinates in his back yard, sparks radiation alert

The garden needed to be decontaminated. Photo / 123RF

A new report has revealed how an Aussie father caused a nuclear incident after urinating in his back garden after receiving radiotherapy.

The man had self-discharged from hospital after receiving radiotherapy involving nuclear medicine, before returning home and relieving himself in his back garden, an act which exposed his family to radiation.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPNSA) report states: "A patient was permitted to self-discharge from hospital following administration of 3.5 GBq Iodine-131 (I-131). The patient did not follow the instructions provided and contaminated a residence, which resulted in exposure to the patient's family.

"The contamination was primarily of the rear yard where the patient urinated outside. Communication issues with the patient were identified as a factor in this incident."

The report does not reveal why the man didn't take the more conventional approach of using the toilet.

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Authorities then worked to decontaminate the back yard by removing turf and soil, eventually clearing 95 per cent of the radiation.

Other incidents involving nuclear medicine included a cancer patient given a double dose and a radioactive vial that broke open in a hospital microwave.

The report concluded that radiation use in Australia "is generally very safe" but warned that unexpected events can occur "even with strict controls in place".